Sonic X Season Five: Nazo's Requiem
by Onewithmyshoesize
Summary: Our world is under attack by subtle yet powerful ancient evil. This evil wants to destroy everything in existance, including existance itself. Only the heroes -the champions of Chaos- can save our world now. Sonamy, Tailream, Knuxouge, Vetnilla
1. Prologue: The Yawning Moon

Prologue: The Yawning Moon's Knights

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the story line.**

**Note: If you haven't read my Season Four fanfic, I advise you to do so, as this is a direct continuation of it. If you don't do as I say, you're probably terribly confused…OR REALLY LACKING IN GOOD JUDGEMENT! Any who enjoy the fanfic! **

It was a cold and stormy night at the Valethir Yawning Moon tavern. Rain fell hard and fast on the ground, mixing in with the hail that broke like glass on the hard ground. The night sky was churning and dark. No one was out in the streets. Everyone, even the homeless, sought shelter wherever it lay. Most sought refuge at the Yawning Moon.

The Yawning Moon was the resident's home away from home. It held an old, nostalgic, rustic charm that attracted even the most forward thinking clientele. No one knows why this is. But it is the reason why it has been in business for as long as anyone can remember or even as long as historians can map out. It was wooden in frame and was built with stone from a local quarry that has been out of business ever since one-thousand years ago. But this fact was attributed to the current owner's resourcefulness and cunning eye for business. The inside was just as rustic and traditional as the outside would imply. Long wooden tables stretched from one wall to the other wall. There was a large hearth fire to keep the place warm, and a small stage where traveling bards would often come to perform for the room and board. And tonight was one of those nights.

Many people crowded the tables. They all chatted and cheered as they had a small or large drink with their friends depending on their fare and how urgent it was for them to get home. The Chaeons had a good constitution when it came to the drink, but they detested getting drunk. Still, the ordered their drinks consistently, and many were on the third round. The soft music in the background was delightful and many people cheered the bard who was playing tonight. Even though he was a most unusual fellow.

The bard was a Gizoid. Yes, Gizoid, as in one of those mechanical warriors rumored to be nigh unbeatable in combat. But this one held no interest in war or fighting, at least physically. It, or rather he, was more interested in the humanities and music and poetry; quite a soulful fellow. He was silver with blue eyes, but other than that, he looked like any other Gizoid. He strummed his fingers across his lute with lithe precision, moving quickly and letting the notes hang and linger in the air to help the customers focus on their drinks. He had a name. His name is Chemerl.

One Chaeon left his spot at the table and clanged his spoon and glass together. Everyone in the tavern looked at him. He was the owner, Razinmire, who often ate and drank with his customers. He spoke in a deep voice.

"Listen up! I know you all like music, but it seems to me we are all in for a night here. If that is so, then we should have some good night time entertainment. I think we should have the bard tell us a tale." Everyone spoke in agreement. They all turned to Chemerl.

"Will you tell us a story, bard?" A customer asked.

"Well sure," Chemerl said in an almost normal voice, "I have plenty of tales to tell you all. Shall I regale you all with the tale of the valiant heroes that saved us from a nightmare world?"

"Sure," they all agreed.

"Alright. But first, I will give you all a bit of a prologue."

"Go to it then! We have plenty of time to kill!"

Chemerl cleared his voice and slung his lute across his back. Sat in his chair.

_**Long Ago In A Distant Land…which is about five kilometers away from here or so…**_

There were three knights clad in their armor waiting outside a cathedral of Chaos. They stared at the magnificent building as it radiates all colors of the light around midday when the sun reaches its apogee. The knights were a bit unusual, as they were like humans, but at the same time they were not humans. They were of the anthropomorphic race that inhabits Mobius, One knight was a two tailed fox, with yellow fur and a knack for invention, another was a strong pink hedgehog and the other was a red echidna who was also quite strong. They were known as Sir Prower, Sir Rose and Sir Knuckles. They were waiting for their illustrious knight-captain to emerge from the bowels of the holy cathedral, so they chatted amongst themselves.

"You know what I would want when we get back to the Emerald Hill zone?" Sir Rose said.

"What?" Responded Sir Prower.

"I would like to meet some nice woman when we get back. I've been thinking about it ever since you got married that one fine morning."

"Yes, and I can see why. Mystara is so beautiful and intelligent. That's why I picked her; she had all of the qualities I want in a woman." Said Sir Prower with a sigh.

"Which is why I wonder how you got a lass like her to marry you. Sorceresses are always so picky," said Sir Knuckles.

"Because in addition to having balls, Sir Prower has brains. Women like men who can think, you know," Sir Rose said.

"Oh don't talk such rot," said Sir Knuckles as they all laughed.

Sir Prower then spoke. "But it is too bad we won't be able to spend so much as a passing moment when we get back home. Heaven knows lovers like to talk in another way when they see each other after such a long time…"

"Oh, perish the thought. We'll be back in a week afterward. You and Mystara can bed together at that time." Said Sir Rose.

"Yes, but still-" The cathedral bell rang thrice and the birds around the bell took flight. People flooded out of the cathedral. All except for the knight-captain.

"Call me crazy," said Sir Knuckles, "but I think Sir Nazo has a crush on the priestess Annabelle."

"That is crazy. A knight cannot marry a simple priestess. Besides, we are not permitted to marry someone of another species of anthro. Sir Nazo is a hedgehog, while Annabelle is a cat." Sir Prower said.

"I'm glad Mystara wasn't around to hear that. Besides, Sir Nazo is the king's son. He just has to convince him to give her a title and then they can marry. Besides, remember last year? He spent an entire month in that cathedral. And I don't think he was praying, either."

A few minutes later, the stomping of metal feet echoed out of the cathedral. Out of the hall stepped the prince knight-captain Nazo. His quills stood up in an odd manner on his head, his fur was ice blue and his eyes were green. Emerald Green. His armor was gold and it shined in the sun. His sword was sheathed at his hip. He motioned to his three knights and they headed out on horse.

"Where are we going?" Asked Sir Rose, "The road to Emerald Hill zone was back that way."

"We are heading toward the Leaf Forest zone. The scouts have reported sightings of Reavers in the wilderness." Sir Nazo said.

"Reavers?" Sir Prower asked frightened.

"Yes. We need to see if these reports are true. We will stop by the garrison near the forest to get some troops."

Around evening the knights and the garrison guard walked in the forest. They all were silent, listening for any sound. The wind rustled, the leaves scattered in the night, and the darkness encroached around the group. They all had hidden their torches to avoid being seen. Reavers were terrible monsters, and almost gods if the Chaeons' stories about them were to be believed. Sir Prower was quite frightened because he claimed he was attacked by one in his youth and he almost died. If there were Reavers here, then they needed surprise, or else no one would be walking back home tonight.

A voice shouted. They all turned around and saw tall, skeletons with energy exhuming out of their skulls with swords and shields attacking.

"Reavers!"

"No!"

"Argh!"

"They're attacking the left flank! "

"Sir Rose is wounded!"

"Noes mah piez. They iz ruined! "

"O.O"

"Where is the knight-captain?"

"There he is! He's…he's…summoning- Gargh!"

"Run away! HYEEEEEELLLLLLLLP!"

Only Sir Prower, Sir Rose and Sir Knuckles survived. No one knows what happened to the knight-captain.

They only knew that something horrendous was about to begin.

Now to the present day!

**A/N: This prologue will make sense…eventually…**


	2. Chapter 1: The Bard

Chapter 1: The Bard

**Disclaimer: I only own the story.**

"C'mon Tails!"

"Just a second, Sonic! I just need to add a few more touch-ups to the X-Tornado."

Sonic looked up from the couch in Tails' workshop. He was waiting for his best friend to finish up his "project", or so Tails called it, so they could run around the Green Hill Zone together. After ten weeks of excruciating depression and pain, Tails was out of his grieving stage and Sonic was finally able to catch up on old times with Tails. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, Tails took his newfound happiness to go back to what he loved to do: tinker and invent. He spent about two weeks cleaning up his house and fixing his inventions. Not to mention that he found himself a girlfriend.

"Tails, listen, I know your actually working on Cream's gift for her birthday."

"Uh, no I'm not," Tails said as he looked up from his "project", an elaborate machine designed to show a hologram of Tails and Cream together with the message: _We'll be together. I promise._ Did Sonic mention that Tails' girlfriend was Cream?

"Tails are we heading out or not?"

"Just let me add a few more touches…and…done!" Tails pressed the button and the hologram worked. He sighed as he looked at the cute couple in the hologram. In many ways, Tails was reminded of his previous infatuation with the Seedrian Cosmo. He knew he loved her, but he never got a chance to tell her how he felt about her. He couldn't save her.

He wouldn't let that happen to Cream.

He turned off the hologram. He went over to the flower that was growing from the seed Cosmo left behind. He picked up a water canteen and watered it. He then left his lab and went toward Sonic. He jumped off the couch and smiled.

"All right! Are you ready for some racing?" Sonic asked excitedly.

"Sure!" Tails responded.

They both left the workshop and gazed off in the distance. Sonic motioned toward the horizon line with his hand. "First one through Green Hill Zone wins?"

"Alright. Get ready to eat my dust," Tails said as he got ready to run.

"I hope you like to see my behind. That is, if you can catch it!" Sonic said as he looked at Tails with a grin. They both got in their usual running stance. 1…2…3…GO!

And they both raced off to Green Hill Zone. The both laughed as they ran on the hills a jumped over the occasional rock. It was just like old times, where both of them were carefree and took pleasure in defeating Eggman and stopping his nefarious schemes. Eggman was quite as of late, but they entire group took the time after their last adventure to zealously work on an idyll-an idyll of relaxation and decompression, of course. Neither Sonic nor Tails were concerned with winning their little race. Sometimes Sonic would lurch ahead to keep Tails running, and sometimes Tails would take the lead to tease Sonic.

About halfway into their race, they saw Cream walk up to them and wave at them to come over to her. Sonic and Tails ran over to Cream and stopped near her.

"Hi Mr. Sonic and Foxboy," Cream said to Sonic and Tails. Foxboy was Cream's term of endearment for Tails.

"Hi Cream," both Sonic and Tails said. Cream shook Sonic's hand and she gave Tails a kiss on the cheek. Tails gave her a kiss on the cheek as well.

"What's up Cream?" Sonic asked.

"Can you both come to my house? We have found something odd there, and mama's frightened. Mr. Vector and Ms. Amy are already there."

"Sure, we'll come," Sonic said, They all raced off together toward Cream's home.

Just a few minutes later, they arrived at Cream and Vanilla's cottage. Vanilla was looking quite terrified and Vector and Amy were waiting for the others to arrive. When they did, Vector and Amy approached Sonic, Tails and Cream.

"Sonikku!" Amy said as she hugged Sonic. He hugged back. "Hey, Amy."

"There you are," Vector said. "We have a bit of a problem here."

"That is?" Tails asked.

"Well…I don't know how to put this…you see…"

"EMERL'S BACK AND HE WANTS TO KILL ME!" Vanilla screamed.

"What?" Tails asked.

"No, Emerl's not back," Cream said. "What's there looks like Emerl though."

"Are you saying there is a Gizoid in there?" Sonic asked.

"Yes!" Vanilla said. "When I woke up, I saw that…that _thing_ sleeping on the couch! I grabbed Cream and we ran all the way to the edge of the Leaf Forest! God knows what that monstrosity did in our absence!" Vanilla was quite traumatized by Emerl and his destructive potential. Having one sleeping on her couch was less than ideal for her.

Vector gave Vanilla a hug. "Don't worry, honey, we'll make sure that thing doesn't hurt you or Cream." He turned to Sonic, Tails and Amy. "I suggest we enter as quietly as we can, so that we can get the drop on the Gizoid when we see it."

Amy whipped out her hammer. "Got it. Let's go."

They all stepped slowly into the cottage. They crouched, keeping their voices low and stepping softly in the shadows. They entered in the living room. There was nothing on the couch, though it appeared to have been slept in. They split up and searched the entire cottage. Nothing. Not a trace. Meanwhile, Vector said something rather surprising to Sonic.

"Sonic, I know this isn't the most appropriate time to say, but…I've been thinking of popping the question to Vanilla." Vector said.

"That's great, Vector."

"You think so?"

"Sure. You've liked her for a long time, right?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm a little nervous…"

Tails ran in front of them. He whispered to them: "The Gizoid is in the flower garden."

They all went to the backyard and saw a silver and blue Gizoid in the garden. He had something that looked like a guitar on his back. He also had a hi-tech crossbow slung across his back. Several pieces of parchment, scrolls, books and vials hung from a belt that went around his waist. He was garbed in a grey robe that reached his feet. He also had a pack that was hung to the left of his body. He held a small violet in his right hand between his thumb and his index finger. Vanilla came into the house and saw the Gizoid in her flower garden.

"That thing is not going to be in MY flower garden!" Vanilla said as she got up to run after the Gizoid. Vector held onto her arm and stopped her. "Wait," he said quietly.

The Gizoid held up the flower and sniffed it. He sighed. "Now this is a whitethistle, can give you the runs, you know, and I made up a song for it, quite a catchy tune... _Whitethistle, whitethistle, all in a row, in Neverwinter Woods they all grow..._" He said to no one in particular. He then winced. "No, these aren't whitethistles. These are violets. Hmmm…"

Vanilla started to calm herself down. "I don't think Emerl ever made poems, or thought, did he?"

Sonic then said: "I don't think Emerl ever _talked_."

Cream was seeing the entire thing and laughed a little. "He seems friendly." She then went out to the flower garden toward the Gizoid. Vanilla called out to Cream. "No, Cream, wait!"

Cream went up to the Gizoid and poked him in the back. The Gizoid jumped. "Augh!" He cried and he fell on his back. Cream looked at him with a quaint curiosity. The Gizoid looked up at her. "Oh, heh, hello miss." He said.

"Hi there, mister," Cream said. "What's your name? My name is Cream."

The Gizoid looked at her for a moment and said: "Hello Cream. My name is Chemerl. I'm sorry to be on your property; I thought this cottage was abandoned."

"That's okay, but you gave me and my mama quite a fright."

"Sorry about that, too." The others in the cottage went out to Cream and this Chemerl. Vanilla hugged Cream. "Oh sweetie, are you hurt?" She asked Cream.

"No, mama, I'm fine. He's alright." Cream said. Vector grabbed Chemerl's hand and helped him up. "Thank you good sir," Chemerl said. "I didn't know that the place was occupied."

Vanilla got up and looked at Chemerl sternly. "Well it is. And I prefer that you leave immediately."

"All right. Sorry about any trouble I've caused."

"Get going!" Vanilla almost yelled. Everyone looked at Vanilla. She looked back. "What?"

"That was pretty harsh." Amy said.

"It's alright, Chemerl. C'mon in and tell us who you are," Cream said as she grabbed Chemerl's hand and dragged him inside. Chemerl couldn't help but look back at Vanilla. He thought she seemed interesting.

Inside Cream and the others sat on the sofa. She poured Chemerl a cup of tea.

"Ah, jasmine with a hint of sage-just how I like it." Chemerl said. He thanked them for the cup.

"So what's your name?" Tails asked.

"My name is Chemerl. I'm a bard."

"A bard?" Sonic asked. "What's that?"

"A minstrel. A scholar of sorts. A performer. A song writer.  
A musician. A collector and teller of tales. A tinkerer. A man or woman of knowledge that's either useful or useless depending on your point of view."

"How old are you?" Tails asked.

"Last I checked I was seventeen. so I'm going with that age."

"What's with that banjo?" Cream asked.

"It's not a banjo! It's a lute! There's a difference!"

"So why are you here?" Vanilla asked bluntly.

"I wandered here. The front door was unlocked. I thought the place was abandoned."

"So you come in here randomly breaking into homes…" Vanilla said as her voice started to crescendo.

Vector changed the subject. "Be that is it may, you've done something a little bad. So where are you from?"

"I have no one home. Anywhere there are folk who love song, food, stories and company is my home."

"So you're a hobo?" Amy said.

"I prefer the term "traveler in a perpetual state of transiency"."

"Wow. Interesting." Vector said.

"Eh, not really. My hobbies got me kicked out of my home. But I'll tell you more about that later. Shall I sing you all a song?"

Vanilla started to talk again. "Sing? You are here in my home uninvited and you want to sing?"

"The songs are quite beautiful, miss."

"I don't care! I-," Vanilla raised her finger, then she put it back down and sighed.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Cream asked. "We can help you here until you leave."

Vanilla choked on her tea.

"That sounds great!" Chemerl said. "Don't worry, in about one days' time I'll be leaving to see if there's a town or something. I'd love to learn about the people here."

Vanilla was about to say no, but she noticed that is way late evening outside, and she quieted herself. How could her daughter invite that monster in their home? Chemerl, however, was pleased. He liked Tails, Sonic, Amy and Cream, but most of all, he liked Vanilla.

She was the most bewitching woman he had ever met.

Late at night, everyone was asleep in her home. For some reason Vanilla insisted they all stay here for the night. Everyone was asleep except for Vanilla, Vector and Chemerl. Vanilla walked up to Vector and gave him a hug. Vector looked at her.

"You don't like Chemerl, do you?"

"He's a Gizoid."

"I know you don't like him, but don't worry, soon he'll be leaving."

"Good riddance, I say." Vanilla said harshly.

"What's with you? I've never seen you like this."

"That thing tried to kill us back on Earth, remember?"

"That was Emerl. This guy's probably different."

"I don't care."

"Fine. But I still don't know why you had all of us stay in your cottage."

"Because I would like to see how good you are in bed." Vector blushed immensely.

"Not like that. I just wanted you to lay beside me tonight." Vanilla teased.

"Okay."

"And well, there's something I'd like you to help me with." Vanilla pulled out something from her dress. She should it to Vector in the dim light. It was a dagger that was curved like a talon and jagged with orange runes in some esoteric language inscribed on the hilt. Vector looked at it with an odd look. The toilet flushed and Chemerl came out of the bathroom. He saw the dagger and was amazed.

And all the while a new pair of eyes looked on the cottage unbeknownst to the guests.


	3. Chapter 2: I'm not LeftHanded

Chapter 2: I'm not Left-Handed!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. But I do own the terribly evil monster who's not left handed.**

"What is that?" Vector said as he looked at the dagger.

"I don't know, I was hoping you knew." Vanilla shifted uncomfortably. "I haven't told Cream about this. I founded stabbed in my door about a week ago."

"Found what lodged in your door?" Chemerl asked from behind. Both Vector and Vanilla turned around. "Nothing you need to know, half-pint!" Vanilla said.

Chemerl walked up to her and grabbed the dagger. "Hey! That's my whatever-it-is! Give it back! VEEEEECT-OR! MAKE HIM GIVE IT BACK!" Vanilla whined. Chemerl held it up to his eyes and a light generated from his eyes. He examined it for a few minutes and twirled it around in his fingers for a few seconds. "Nice craftsmanship," Chemerl muttered. He looked at the runs and repeated what the runes said: "Pro umbra quod somnium, Reavers exspecto in nox noctis. Weird."

"What does it mean, Chemerl?" Vector asked.

"I have no idea. The language certainly isn't English, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Chaeonic, Vodeic…well, unless the p's, r's and e's are silent, but then that would mean: "You said you'd get the groceries today!" which is a weird message to write on a cthvalar."

"A cth-what?" Vanilla said.

"A cthvalar. A very ancient artifact indeed. How did you ever get your hands on a Reaver artifact? "

"What's a Reaver?"

"Have you ever heard of the Fourth Great Civilization?"

Vanilla sighed. "Yes. I know more about that place than I ever cared to know."

"Well, as the name implies, that means there were three other great civilizations. The First Great Civilization was the civilization made by the Reavers, which have been unequaled before or since. The Reavers were perfect in every way imaginable: strength, fortitude, beauty, intelligence, benevolence, great in bed, if you catch my drift…they had technologies and knowledge that we can never even begin to comprehend. Their societies were veritable utopias. No crime or poverty or discrimination…their society began to claim the entire world. Until they became arrogant and defied their Gods. Then they were cursed to look like buff skeletons and were wiped out from the face of the universe. Now, according to Chaeons, and this them speaking, not me, they live on the other side of the Chaos Weave where they still have their utopia, but they have become bitter about everything that has happened to them."

"Okay, but that doesn't tell us what a cth-whatever is." Vanilla said impatiently.

"Tired are we? We can continue this in the morning."

"No, you tell us now." Vector said.

"Fine. A cthvalar is a dagger wielded by the highest of clerics in their religion."

"What does that mean?"

"It means what it means."

"No…I mean what does this have to do with us?" Vanilla said annoyed.

"Well, it depends where you found it…"

"I found it stabbed in my door."

"That means either that cleric was a door-hater, or…ooh, I that's a bad omen right there sister."

"Don't call me sister. You will address me as "Miss", got that?"

"Whatever, sister. It means that cleric has some beef with you and you're being hunted."

Vanilla and Vector gasped. "I hope they haven't targeted you for some holy crusade, or you are deep in the Styx, let me tell you." Chemerl said.

Vanilla stammered. "B-b-b-b-but, they're gone, right?"

"For the most part, yes. But don't worry, if you found this a week ago, they probably forgot about you. So much bureaucracy in their societies that it's nigh impossible to get stuff done." Suddenly, a thing jumped in the house and revealed itself: a buff skeleton in robes.

"Wow, if I didn't know any better, I would have said that that thing there is a Reaver!" Chemerl said. He walked over to the Reaver and tried to pull off the skull. "You look like you jumped right out of those tall tales the Chaeons tell." He tugged it a few times, but to no avail. "Wow, that's a right good costume…unless…YOU'RE A REAVER!" Chemerl screamed.

Everyone woke up and saw the Reaver and screamed. The Reaver laughed.

"Ha!" The Reaver gloated. "Hello, mortals. Did I interrupt your little nap? Then I'll just grab what I came here for and leave." The Reaver started moving toward Vanilla. "The Dark Master needs you…" Vanilla screamed. Chemerl whipped out his crossbow and fired a bolt at the Reaver's head. The bolt bounced off of his head and the Reaver picked up Chemerl and threw him out the window. Sonic got up and dashed toward the Reaver. The Reaver produced a sword and held it in his left hand. Sonic spin dashed into the Reaver's legs and bowled him over. The Reaver stood up and tried to cut Sonic with his sword. Sonic crouched below the blade and kicked the Reaver's legs. The Reaver shook for a moment and then Vector grabbed the Reaver and raised him over his head. He brought the Reaver crashing down head-first on the floor. Cream then started to kick the Reaver. "Don't you DARE hurt my mama!" She then kicked the Reaver in the…well…place you're not supposed to hit a guy. The Reaver sank to his knees, making a high-pitched moan. Tails and Cream kicked the Reaver down, making karate noises as they did. Literally. The Reaver fell back down to the floor. This time, he could barely get up. He seethed as he breathed heavily.

"I…I admit…you are all great combatants…" The Reaver said.

"Yeah, that's right! Now, don't you dare hunt my girl!" Vector exclaimed.

"But, you don't why you are defending her…it would have been best had you given her up…" Chemerl rushed back in the house with his crossbow knocked. "Never!" He exclaimed.

"…She is central…key to the plot…Anaxes…"

"What?" Sonic said.

"Nazo…" Then the Reaver stood up. "I'M NOT LEFT-HANDED!" He exclaimed. He switched his sword to his right hand…and he got thumped twice as hard. "Or…was I…not right-handed…?" He then got up, punched Chemerl and then escaped.

Vanilla watched terrified. Chemerl and Vector told everyone the entire ordeal. Sonic relaxed. "What did he mean "Anaxes"?"

"I don't know, but he left the cthvalar behind." Chemerl said. And secretly, he was glad the Reaver did not kidnap Vanilla.

"Well, I know someone who can get that cthvalar translated," said Vector.

"Why would we have it translated?" Amy asked.

"Because it is a mystical object of doom!" Cream said mysteriously. Cheese made ghost noises.

"Exactly. Mystical objects of doom advance the plot in many stories, and it may be key to find out why the Reavers want you." Sonic said.

"Other than she's hot?" Vector asked. Vanilla blushed a little. Chemerl got jealous inside. "Tomorrow, we'll go find Anaxis…"

"Wait! Didn't that Reaver say "Anaxes"?"

"Yeah, but that's with an "e" not an "i"."

"Oh, okay." Vanilla said. She looked a little nervous, then she said, "Is…is it alright if I come with you all? I just want to not be alone. I'm tired of all of you leaving me out on your adventures."

"I don't know…" Sonic said.

"It will be an honor to serve with you, ma'am." Chemerl said.

"Of course you can come, mama! You just needed to ask." Cream said.

"I'd love to have you by my side, Vanilla," Vector said.

"It's alright with me," Amy said.

"You can come with us," Tails said.

"Yay! It will be just like this book I read…" Vanilla said.

"Be sure to lend me that book when we get back." Chemerl said.

"But first, we need to get Knuckles and see if Shadow wants to come along," Sonic said. And they all went to sleep. But Sonic had a hard time falling asleep. Nazo…such a familiar name…where did he hear it?

Oh yeah.

From a madman who said he was preparing them to fight someone named Nazo. He hoped he wouldn't run into him again.


	4. Chapter 3: Nightmares on Mobius

Chapter 3: Nightmares on Mobius

**Disclaimer: Nothing is owned.**

The classroom 907 at the Mobius University was empty. The desks were bare and polished except for papers with letter markings from A to F on the desks, barely examined by the students before and simply chucked in the garbage can. A projector and a document reader were placed on two desks in the center of the classroom with both devices unplugged and red-hot from recent and extensive use. Crumpled up paper balls littered the floor, showed signs of abuse, specifically stomped and thrown about the room.

Summertime for a university doesn't get much better than this.

The professor was still in the room. He was punching in numbers into his computer. He needed to get started on grading the finals for his philosophy and mythology courses if he was to have a good vacation. He was a grey wolf with yellow irises and a small smile on his face. He was dressed sharply in a blue dress shirt, a silk red tie and light khaki pants. His black dress shoes stood close together, pointing forward to the class and shined until they reflected like mirrors. His fingers flew nimbly over the keys on the keyboard and fast enough for one to assume he types with his well-filed claws. He was known as Anaxis or Mr. Anaxis to his students. He has a passion for the humanities, specifically Philosophy and Mythology. He majored in both and received a doctorate and a teaching certificate. He taught at the University and had some more interesting methods of teaching that got him sacked at one university, being popular and well-received by the students but chastised by the humanities department.

A knock was heard on the door. Anaxis' ears pricked up. He slid out of his chair and opened the door, preparing to tell whoever was at the door that the finals were not graded yet. When he opened the door, he saw a crocodile in front of him. Anaxis smiled.

"Hello Vector," Anaxis said.

"What's up, Anaxis," Vector replied.

"I was grading finals."

"Interesting."

"I notice that you've brought company. Would you all like to come in?" He looked at the people behind Vector.

They responded with a yes and filed in into the classroom. "I hope you don't mind the mess. I haven't gotten the chance to clean up." Anaxis said.

"It's all right," Chemerl said as he sat on one of the desks. Vanilla went up to Vector and leaned on him. Chemerl was entranced with Vanilla's…behind, and took out a journal and started to sketch.

"…and so we need you to identify something for us." Vector finished. He took out a bag and unzipped it. He reached in and slowly revealed the cthvalar. Anaxis looked on in awe, gazing enviously as he looked up the sword's blade and hilt; his tongue salivated and he almost gobbed on a student's final. He reached for it and took the cthvalar from Vector's hands. He felt the blade and held the hilt, switching it from his right hand to his left after a few seconds. He was almost hypnotized by the cthvalar.

Anaxis whistled. "A lesser cthvalar…as sleek and powerful as the old tales tell…"

"What is a cthvalar, for the final time?" Sonic asked.

"To answer that, I will need to inform you all on some history. As you probably all know archaeological evidence supports the idea that there were four great civilizations before us. Each civilization denoted the beginning and ending of an era. The First and oldest civilization was the civilization of the Reavers, which is why archaeologists and historians specializing in ancient history refer to this era as the Time of Selhanine, the Reaver deity of shadows and dreams."

"Who was Selhanine?" Cream asked.

"She was the goddess of dreams and shadows in Reaver religion. She was the only deity they had. She was supposed to be quite benevolent and beautiful, if their scriptures are to be believed." Chemerl answered. "She is also said to have quite a temper." Anaxis looked up at Chemerl.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"I travel a lot. You pick up things here and there. Plus the Chaeons have lore about them in their own religion." Chemerl smiled at Vanilla when they looked at him. Vanilla gave him a scowl.

"Whatever the case, that answers her question. In Reaver scriptures, it is said that the Reavers were enslaved by another race called the Eldred. It is said that one night, a Reaver by the name of Pious Releventius prayed to someone –anyone or anything- to free his people from their enthrallment. He was given an answer by an unknown force who gave him her name, her blessing and a sword that was as graceful as a katana and as powerful as a claymore with the words _Pro umbra quod somnium, Reavers exspecto in nox noctis_ down the blade. With her divine favor and powerful magic granted to him, Releventius rallied his brethren and led a revolt against the Eldred-" Tails raised his hand.

"What?" Anaxis asked.

"A voice in his head gave him a sword and told him to revolt and people followed him?"

"Yes."

"That makes no sense. I'm sure that if I went schizophrenic and got a sword, people wouldn't follow me."

"True, but just you consider the context of the times: total enslavement, no future, everyone, including toddlers, was being worked to death. They needed hope, and Releventius was there only. How could they not? Anyway, the revolt was a world-wide thing; all Reavers rose up and revolted against their masters. The Eldred sent their armies to stop the revolt. They were better prepared than Releventius' army. What defeated the Eldred was that they marched through what is now the Mystic Ruins Zone. The Eldred weren't counting on Releventius persuading the powerful residents there to join the Reaver forces. They simultaneously attacked the Eldred. The army of the Eldred was annihilated from fighting on two fronts. Releventius had won the day.

"To honor Releventius, the Reavers followed Selhanine willingly and reproduced his sword to the very exact detail. In Reaver society, the cthvalar was reproduced and distributed among the noble class and clergy as a sign of piety and power."

"History lessons are boring, now what do the words mean?" Sonic asked impatiently.

"The words are Latin for 'For shadows and dreams, the Reavers wait in the night.'"

"So that's the language?" Chemerl said. "I never thought it would be Latin!"

"So then why are the Reavers evil?" Vanilla asked.

"Well, unlike any other race, they were absolutely perfect in the terms of their society. Unfortunately, this fact made them extremely arrogant and haughty and it went so far until they proclaimed themselves higher than Selhanine. As your Gizoid friend mentioned, Selhanine, despite being benevolent and caring, had quite a temper and invoked her wrath on the ungrateful Reavers. She tore off their flesh and muscles until they were skeletons and cursed them to live as such forever. The other races drove them into a separate half of reality called the Dreaming and the Reavers lived there ever sense. They returned to worshipping Selhanine, though some Reavers were bitter about losing their glory."

"So some Reavers could be evil for another cause?"

"Possibly," Anaxis said as he shifted to his left side. "Though I wouldn't know anything about _that_, mind you." He handed the cthvalar to Vector.

"It's all indeed rather strange. A dark, ebony hedgehog came here a half-hour ago with the same blade." Anaxis said.

"Shadow has a cthvalar?" Sonic asked.

"Shadow's his name? I never quite caught that. I found him quite blunt. Yes, he does."

"Then that means Shadow was attacked by a Reaver!" Tails deduced.

"Oh no! I hope Mr. Shadow's okay!" Cream said.

"Don't worry, he is more of a match for one of them," Knuckles said.

"I'll go get the rest of the Chaotix," Vector said, "We'll need all the help we can get if we need to stop these Reavers."

They all left through the door. Anaxis chuckled softly. He picked up the phone and punched in a few numbers. The telephone beeped for a few seconds, and then white noise sounded. A voice came on the other end.

"Yes, my master?" The voice said.

"Vicente, I have a task for you. Get a Jade Reaver, or an Onyx Reaver and some Dreamkin with you. We need to act faster than I anticipated."

"I see. Should I also summon a Dream Reaver?"

"No, not yet. And remember who is holding your leash here, Vicente. If you disobey me, your curse will NOT be lifted."

"I understand master. We all must remember that there are no hierarchies before our knight-captain."

"Just prepare the dream orb for incision." Anaxis hooked the phone on the receiver, grabbed his coat and left.

At nine o' clock, Sonic and his friends were fast asleep in Vanilla's cottage. Tails blanketed Cream and himself with his two fluffy tails and held her close as they slept, with Cream holding Tails' right hand. Knuckles was relaxed and stretched out on the sofa with Rouge, who came earlier in the day looking for Shadow. Sonic was watching Amy fall asleep in his arms. Vector and Vanilla were upstairs in the master bedroom, doing things that would have excited Sonic were he not so late in his puberty. Chemerl was asleep with his lute in his arms and the book _Volomir's Guide to the Realm_ cracked open with dog-eared pages.

Sonic, however, had a hard time falling asleep. He was excited that the makings of a new adventure seemed plain on the horizon. These people, these Reavers, for some odd reason, intrigued him. He looked through the window into the starry-night sky. He sighed. He hoped things moved at a faster pace soon. He looked at the sky once more, and grew wide-eyed.

The sky's stars disappeared from view. The sky grew to an ethereal blue shade, with light blue and black mixing in. Mists started to cloud the ground, and the northern lights seemed to race and dance across the sky. Snow covered the ground. Sonic spoke, "Hey, guys, check this out!"

The others woke up slowly and looked at the sky. They were amazed; what could have done this? What did this mean?

Suddenly, the door burst open. A Reaver came in with a kama with _Pro glacies , ultionis quod licentia , Reavers hunt per Nazo_written on it. Chemerl said: "For ice, revenge and freedom, the Reavers hunt with Nazo" The Reaver charged at them faster than anyone could move. The Reaver caught Cream and shoved her against the wall with his kama whilst fending off Vector and Knuckles. Tails jumped on the Reaver and grabbed the kama with his hands. He pulled the kama up and sliced off the Reaver's bony arm. The Reaver shreicked and turned to Tails, who had the kama. Tails jumped at the Reaver and swung the kama. The Reaver sunk to his knees and crumbled. Tails sighed with satisfaction. "Never mess with my girl," Tails grimly warned. He went to help Cream up and Cream gave Tails a huge hug. "My hero!" She cried. They all sighed, but another Reaver popped in. He was colored with an odd green hue. He moved at an incredible speed and punched out Knuckles. Rouge tried to kick the Reaver, but he grabbed Rouge's shoulder and forced her to the ground. He was going to crush Rouge with his bare hands. The Reaver looked at Tails.

"You have done well against my brother, kitsune," the Reaver said. "Your people and the foxes always had disdain for we Reavers. And you are powerful enough to wield the gift from my lord."

"I thought you all followed Selhanine," Chemerl asked as he fired his crossbow at the Reaver. The Reaver deflected the bolts in mid air as he effortlessly tried to crush Rouge.

"It is true, a lot of my people follow Selhanine. But I am one of the few who recognize that she is weak! She robbed us of our glory as a reward for our faithfulness in her. My lord hath more respect for us than she. He will save us! Anaxes is his midwife and I and the others are their aide!"

Tails swung the kama and destroyed the Reaver. Knuckles helped Rouge up. Sonic looked at Tails. "I guess we should start respecting you more, eh?"

"Big time," Tails joked.

"Let's get out of here! There are more!" Cried Vanilla. More Reavers started to appear. They ran out across the snowy wastes. They were soon overtaken by the Reavers. They fought back as they ran. The Reavers teleported after them, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the others fending them off with simple swings.

"Where are we going?" Yelled Vector.

"We need to get to the Master Emerald!" Yelled Knuckles. "It's the only place that's safe!" Soon however, as they reached a pass, Reavers teleported on all sides of them. The Reavers struck at them, overwhelming them 15 to one. They were slowly cut off into two groups. Sonic and his friends battled valiantly, but the Reavers just kept coming. And soon, a new creature came. It was bright purple and had no face. It had furs sown together to form some shirt with crystals dangling from a rope that hung across the torso. It took out a bow made from fine silver and shot several arrows. It seemed that there was no chance for our heroes…

But as quickly as they came, they were defeated in a shadowy streak. Sonic just had one person to think about: Shadow. The ebony hedgehog appeared and looked at Sonic.

"Really, faker, I thought you were tougher than this! You need to start fighting again." Shadow said.

"Eh, we were handling those guys just fine." Sonic said. He looked at Shadow. "Are you escaping with us, or not?"

"Just try not to get yourselves killed." They raced off to the Master Emerald.

Along the way, Shadow told them about the bow he found and he identified the creature they saw.

"It's called a Dreamkin. They're supposed to exist in a place called the Dreaming, where there is only void and nothingness."

"What is this Dreaming made out of?"

"I don't know. This is only what Anaxis told me about. They're supposed to be neutral, only aligning themselves with those who have butt loads of power."

"So then this 'lord' the Reaver was talking about is powerful…sounds like he needs to be taken down a few notches." Sonic said.

"Exactly," Shadow said as he grinned. They arrived at the Master Emerald, and couldn't believe who they saw: they saw Anaxis with a Reaver that was glowing like the northern lights. He was holding the seven Chaos Emeralds.

"Wha-? Anaxis!" Vector cried out. "Get away from him!"

"Why would I want to do that?" Anaxis asked. "He is my associate!"

"What?" Sonic said.

"You heard me! This is only the beginning of something grand, something majestic, and something beautiful!" He used the seven Chaos Emeralds to blast back Sonic and his friends. He chuckled. "I am not Anaxis with an 'I'! I am Anaxes with an 'e'!" He laughed evilly and teleported away.

"That traitor!" Chemerl screamed. "He left us for dead!"

"Odd," Tails said, "why would he steal the seven Chaos Emeralds and not the Master Emerald?"

"I don't care!" Shadow said. "We have to follow him."

"But we don't even know where he went." Amy said.

"I've got an idea," Shadow said. He took his bow and Sonic's sword and crossed them. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

And they disappeared to an unknown location.


	5. Chapter 4: The Dream's Power

Chapter 4: The Dream's Power

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything…except for the Chaeons.**

The city of Silverquinn is a beautiful city; one of the crown jewels on the coastal belt on Illum, home world of the Chaeons. It is one of many successful ports along the coast, with many ships docking and departing from the harbor. The sun often appears at a bright golden orange hue during the sunset, which complemented the blank white walls that protected the city. The streets are paved with cobbled stone and are unexpectedly smooth to the touch, giving the false impression that the streets were never walked upon for fear of ruining its innate quality and stylistic beauty. The buildings are small one or two story edifices also cut from the same monolith that the street was cut from. The castle which housed the nobles that governed the city with a stern hand, guarded by warriors armored in high-tech armor. Technology was the only hint of progression the city shows beyond medieval times.

But beyond all of the shimmering glory, not one building stood out as much as the cathedral that stood in the center of the city. It looked like any other cathedral: black, long arches, many stories tall, and large, rustic wooden doors.

In the cathedral there is an altar with a man and a woman standing behind it. They were statues; the man was sculpted with a long robe that draped to the ground. His hood covered much of his face, of which one could see little of at any rate as it looked sullenly down to the floor. In contrast, a lively woman is sculpted next to him, dressed elegantly in fine jewelry and plain yet beautiful and awe-striking Victorian-era dress. Her golden-red hair is hung over her shoulders and reach down to touch the lower half of her torso. She gazes upward to the ceiling, as if pondering the heavens or the sky; some fantastic architecture that has yet been rivaled by the works of man and his flawed hands. At the feet of these two figures kneels a young man whose hands are clasped in penance and prayer. He is dressed in light armor that is entirely white saver for a holy symbol of some sort, a diamond that radiated a small and bright light. His tunic was white and covering it was a long and tight-fitting breast plate that hung from his shoulders by straps. His pants were also white plating that hung more loosely from his body yet close enough to protect from a short attack. On his lower back was his sheathed knife.

The man is brown haired and rugged. He is quite muscular and his upper body is wide and muscular; his pectoral muscles pushed a little against the breast plate. He has recently shaven with no hairs standing on his chin. His eyes are golden yellow and his skin is somewhat pale; he would be quite attractive were he not a priest. He whispers silently in prayer and glances up after a few moments upon hearing approaching footsteps. He stands up from his position and looks down the hall past the pews. He sees a young woman garbed in the same armor as him. Her figure is more feminine than the man's, with the breast plate and pants showing curves yet not enough to induce excitation. The armor is quite moderate in appearance. She is black haired and the hair is long and almost fluttering as she walks. Her skin is tanned bronze and her eyes are dark brown. They are both special persons known simply as Favored Souls, or people who are chosen by their deities to serve them and are highly respected and treated well in Chaeon society. The man and the woman walk toward each other and extend greetings.

"Hello, Annalese," the man said.

"Hello, Abraxis," Annalese said.

"You have missed the mass today."

"I am sorry, Brother Abraxis, but I had other errands to attend to. I have made up the prayers."

"I am glad that you have made them up, Sister, and that you have completed the errands."

"You seem in a good mood today."

"Yes, I am. Today is the day we head back to Valethir."

"I am excited to see my parents again. Are you?"

"Yes, and I want to see how much of it has changed."

"Hopefully it is the same as we left it."

"Probably not. I heard the nobles raised the taxes again." Abraxis was of noble decent before he was chosen.

"That is always a problem." Annalese hails from more humble origins, speaking proudly of her youth spent on farming and tilling the soil.

"Yes but it is by no means a huge problem."

"In some cases it is," Annalese responded, "it seems like the noble class sometimes wishes to suck the middle class and the peasantry dry."

"I know my parents would." They both laughed a little.

"Yes, but seriously," Abraxis continued, "compared to other places high taxes are a welcome trade-off."

"I understand what you mean. Do you know the Reaver Nation?"

"I know of it."

"The Nazo movement is growing in power. There have been some riots in their bazaars. Some Nazoians have attacked a shrine of Selhanine."

"I knew this would have happened. Even though a lot of Reavers worship Selhanine, there is still that resentment toward her for what she did."

"Yes. And some people are working to agitate this sensitivity even further. Some person named Anaxes was preaching it in the Reaver cities. He says that his Lord would cure them of their curse if they follow him."

"You listened to one of his rants?"

Annalese shrugged. "Out of curiosity. I am loyal to Chaos and Order. His speech promised a new way of life and power. I fear that the Reavers may actually abandon their Goddess for this 'Lord Nazo' of his. I can't help but feel there is something deeply wrong about this movement. They claim they want peace and forgiveness, but I am skeptical. Remember Irenticus?"

"Yes."

"He agrees with me."

"And you are both right. When people are desperate, they don't listen to the speaker, just what he promises."

"And that is what I want to talk to you about. I know that in Valethir you have been seeing that Seedrian woman."

"Do my feelings for her cause you that much concern? We are not humans. Our clergy is allowed to marry."

"Even so, I am worried that this may lay out a path from which you will fall from Chaos' light and Order's hand."

"You needn't worry, Annalese. My feelings are under control and they do not interfere with my duties to the church."

"I do not think you are taking me seriously."

"I am. I trust your judgment, welcome your friendship and concern, but-," The door slammed and footsteps run toward them. They both look at the door. Panicked citizens flood the halls and scream and yell for help.

"What is going on?" Abraxis asked.

A citizen points to the window. Abraxis and Annalese look out of the window and are surprised at what they see: Reavers and Dreamkin ravaging the streets, which are covered in snow and mist. The sky is filled with the northern lights and fog that is blue and pink colored.

They are under attack.

Sonic looked up into the blue sky. He smiles.

"I don't know how you've done it Shadow, but we are alive." Sonic said.

Shadow looked at Sonic. "Don't congratulate me just yet. We don't know where we are."

"Wait," Tails said as he turned away from the green forest landscape to look at Shadow, "you mean that you teleported us somewhere you don't even know where it is?"

"I had to do something. Or else we'd still be stuck in nightmare land."

"I suppose that is a good reason. But still, we need to get our bearings." Sonic said. He ran up the height of a nearby tree and stopped on the very tip of the tree. He looked across the land and spotted something out in the distance. He jumped down from the vista.

"Where are we?" Vanilla asked.

"I don't know. It's certainly not home. But there does seem to be a city in the distance."

"Where?" Knuckles asked.

"There about," Sonic said as he pointed down the road, "if we follow this road, we should get there."

They all ran off toward the city.

About an hour later they came across a camp. Small, lopsided tents were erected and people sat by them, seemingly defeated and resigned to whatever cruel fate could be thrown their way. Few people occasionally got up and talked in quiet voices with others. For the most part, they were silent, almost afraid of speaking and afraid to move. Their eyes were sullen, and their tears were warm with sadness. It seemed like the very stereotype of a refugee camp, and this left the question in Sonic's head: what had happened.

Sonic had little time to think, however. A man ran up to him. His skin was glowing, and his eyes were glowing-two normal traits for Chaeons. He stopped right in front of Sonic and said to him: "Come on! Run! Run while you still can!"

"Where are we?" Sonic asked, backing up a little.

"You're on Illum, near Silverquinn! Or what's left of it!"

"What happened?" Tails asked.

"By Chaos' light! You don't know do you? The entire city…gone…overrun by Reavers and Dreamkin…so many friends…! It was Julia…She was the one who got us out of the city in time with the rest of the city guard. She thinks she can hold the road. NO! I DON'T BELIEVE HER! I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE!" The man pushed Sonic aside and started off into the forest. Sonic and his friends just stared in the direction the man ran off toward.

"Well he was helpful," Cream said.

"What in the world happened?" Vector asked, "And what is he? I don't remember any humans looking like him."

"I think they're called Chaeons," Tails said. "Remember the flash back Abraxis gave us back in Station Square?"

"I remember that," Amy said.

"So what do we do?" Chemerl asked.

"Let's ask another, calmer person," Tails suggested. Sonic spotted a man that sat next to a woman and a child. They were awake, but they looked as if they desperately needed sleep. Sonic walked up to the man.

"What do you want?" The man asked bluntly.

"What happened here?"

"Around midday, while we were eating lunch, the sky turned into one huge mist and the ground became covered in snow. Then we were attacked by Reavers and Dreamkin. Many of us died, and we only survived because Captain Julia got us out of the city in time. Some people are still trapped in the cathedral, but other than that, everyone's dead."

"Sonic," Tails said softly, "doesn't this seem akin to what transpired on Mobius?"

"It is," Sonic replied, "which is why we must help these people."

"Do you think Anaxes may be here?" Amy asked.

"Possibly," Sonic said.

"Ooo! This would make a dashing story!" Chemerl said as he made jazz hands, "we go in nobodies, and we come out heroes! We'll be the toast of the city in no time!"

"That's all you're concerned about, isn't it?" Vanilla asked Chemerl, "You just want a good story. You want to profit off of others' pain and misfortune. I should have expected no less from a Gizoid."

"Whoa, I didn't mean that…" Chemerl said. "I just thought…"

"Problem is, you never think. This is where you get off. Good luck to you." Vanilla said.

"Hey, wait a minute! _I'm _not going anywhere. I'm helping you all."

"So you can be a hero? No thanks. You never help us out. Now get!"

"Vanilla, calm down. You know that's not what he meant, and he's been very loyal to us. Besides, we need him. We're in a place we don't know, but he does. We need him for information." Vector said.

"Plus he's fun!" Cream said.

"Alright, fine. But when he betrays us, don't come crying to me."

They all followed a path that winded and twisted with the forest path. It was your average cobble stone pathway, not like the concrete streets of Earth, or the untouched floors of Mobius. As they followed the path, it soon became clear that something was indeed wrong. The sky turned to how it looked when Mobius was invaded, and snow appeared where green rolling grasslands were. The sky seemed to echo and thunder with unbridled chaos and power. It was actually very frightening. Soon, Sonic and his friends came across a barricade made of overturned rickshaws and carriages. Seven people stood behind the barricade; six men and one woman. They were all wearing chainmail and had swords and shields. One had a bow with an arrow knocked. They all squinted their eyes, most likely from lack of sleep, some incredibly traumatizing event or a combination of both. The woman turned around and saw Sonic and his friends. She went out toward them with a slow and cautious pace. She spoke in a commanding voice:

"Stand back civilians. This is no place for the likes of you. Get back to the campsite."

Tails chuckled a little. "'Likes of us'? And just what do you mean by that?"

Amy jumped in. "Yes, what do you mean?"

"Unless you want to die a quick, painful death, you'd best get yourselves to the campsite." The woman said.

"Are you Captain Julia?" Chemerl asked.

"Yes, I am. And what happened to getting back to the campsite?"

"What happened here?" Sonic asked.

"I'll tell you what happened: we lost the damn city, _that's_ what happened! Some Reavers and Dreamkin had the gall to attack us during noon. Anyone who wasn't in the cathedral, or came with us is dead. The Reavers are killing everyone."

"Is there any way we can help?" Cream asked.

Julia was taken aback and looked at them with a less stern rightness in her eyes. "You want to help…? Are you all sure?"

"Positive," Sonic confirmed, "now what do we need to do?"

"Well…what my Chaos mage has said is that this attack is not really possible. What is allowing it to happen is that there is an orb that allows this…whatever…to permeate the environment. He thinks that if we dislodge it, this battle would end."

"So why haven't you tried to get rid of the orb yourself?"

"I only have six guards. I can't afford to lose anyone out here. Besides, I sent a point man in earlier. She hasn't come back. I think it is obvious what happened to her."

"Don't worry; we're here to help. Where do you think the orb is?" Tails said.

"The mage said that he feels some powerful aura inside the castle. That's our best bet. Once you've removed the orb, get everyone in the cathedral out. They're probably the only ones in the city alive."

"Alright, we're on the job." Sonic said.

"Good luck; it's a brave thing you're doing."

They went toward the gates of the city and Sonic pushed gently against them. The caved in and Sonic walked into the depths of this infested hole.

The city was a ghostly shell of its former appearance; buildings were torn down and crumbled into simple boulders. The wreckage was hidden under the snow, and an unearthly silence distilled a sense of calmness and disturbance in the area. Everything was still and the carnage seemed to be over. Sonic did not like the stillness of it all. Chemerl broke the silence.

"I've been here before," Chemerl quipped, "gosh, the entire place has changed quite a lot. Over there used to be the bakery." He pointed to some ruins with bread loaves sticking out in the snow.

"So where are we going?" Sonic asked.

"If the castle's still here, then it should be north of the cathedral. And it's right in front of us." He pointed to a large, magnificent structure that was untouched by the destruction.

"Oh my gosh!" Cream said out loud, "It's so pretty!" The others yelled at her to be quiet, but it was too late. Reavers teleported in through puffs of purple. Three took out swords and charged at the group, with two fingers stationed in front of their noses and the sword readied behind their backs. A Reaver turned in a circular motion and swung the sword in an arc. As his arm came around, Tails ducked as the blade swung over his head. He stretched his arm and grabbed the Reaver by the chin and dropped down on the ground. The extra weight caused the Reaver to lurch and lean down. His arm lost its control and flailed helplessly in the air and struck another Reaver, who in turn toppled over the first Reaver. Sonic jumped in the air and homed in on the third Reaver. Before he struck, the Reaver reached out and grasped Sonic's foot. The Reaver shook Sonic over his head and was about to bring Sonic head first on the rocky ground. A whistling occurred and the Reaver let go, screeching in pain and Sonic fell to the floor. He looked up and saw the Reaver pulling a bolt out of his forearm. The Reaver crumbled and Amy was standing behind him. Chemerl cheered. "Yes! I finally pulled it off!"

Sonic picked himself off of the ground and brushed off some snow. He walked toward the cathedral and pushed open the doors. And ran to the outside of the cathedral.

The town square was just as decimated as the areas before it; the only two recognizable pieces of architecture were a statue that looked solemnly on the landscape that now lay barren before the figure, as he mourned for the town before, and hoped for a new city to arise. The other structure was our heroes' destination: the castle. Oddly enough the castle seemed untouched, like nothing ever could touch it or the Reavers did not want to touch it.

"Yikes," Sonic commented, "I know people like being reminded of home while away, but this is too literal."

"All of this destruction was a stroke of luck," Shadow reasoned, "it is a good sign that Anaxes is here. Once we have him and the Chaos emeralds, will make him tell us what he did to Mobius."

"That is a good plan," a mysterious voice said. Everyone looked up at the castle wall startled. It was a Reaver garbed in fanciful robes and an aura that distorted the appearance of the environment around him like heat dissipates into the air. His skull was as black as night, his eyes showing no feeling except the abyssal depths of superiority and anger at its most primal and animalistic form.

He continued. "But are you sure you all will survive to get inside? I'm not sure if you are all aware but you are all in a no-man's-land."

Sonic chuckled. "If you're so sure we won't survive, then why don't you step down here and fight?"

"I never said you won't survive; if you do, you do. But if you don't, you don't. It isn't a matter of skill that will decide if you survive. In dreams, you only have whatever lucky stars you were blessed with when you were born. The same applies here."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't tell you. It would not hold any further significance if I did tell you. See, in ten seconds, you will all be too terrified to say anything ever again." The Reaver held up his fingers and snapped them, the sound echoing through the wastes.

Just then, something crawled onto the bridge of the castle. It was humanoid, but it was animalistic and inhumane at the same time. It looked like a Dreamkin, but it was on all fours, moving on them with lithe agility. It wore no furs, revealing its muscles and claws on its hands. It moved deftly across the bridge and leaped forth at Sonic. It landed a foot away from him and snarled like a predator cornering its prey. It looked like an abomination, and its breath reeked of fresh sinew. The others were wide-eyed with fear.

"Meet the more…primitive version of a Dreamkin. It's called a Ravager. Made of the stuff of nightmares, it will not only aim to kill you painfully, but it will shred your soul to bits as well. Have fun." The Reaver teleported away as the Ravager leaped at Sonic. Sonic saw the readying of its hind limbs and ducked. The Ravager brought up its front right limb and caught Sonic in the forehead. Sonic felt himself be yanked back with the Ravager as he soared back with Sonic in his paw. He landed and brought Sonic between his limbs and the dazed Sonic looked up and saw into the Ravager's horrible mouth. He only saw the fangs.

The Ravager shrieked and jumped off of Sonic. Sonic looked up and saw Tails fending it off with his kama and swung to the left. Tails caught the beast in the jaw and it shrieked in agony. It leaped at Tails and brought down his claws on Tails. In mid-air, the Ravager flew back again, this time with a Chao named Cheese pinning it against the floor. Cream shouted "You've got it, Cheese!" Knuckles ran toward the Ravager and wound up his fist by bringing it down to the ground. The Ravager flew a good six feet into the air with a haymaker to the jaw. It collapsed as it hit the ground. It picked itself up slowly and snarled weakly. It favored its front left limb and slinked off to the sewers.

"Wow," Chemerl said, "what a fearsome beast! It must have weighed at least 200 kg!"

Cream and Tails picked up Cheese. "Are you alright, Cheese?" The Chao nodded his head enthusiastically. Sonic was helped up off the ground by Amy.

"Thanks, Amy."

"No problem Sonic." Amy then hit Sonic over the head. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? THAT THING COULD'VE KILLED YOU!"

"Yeah, but it didn't."

"Oh God. Not this again. Just promise me you'll be careful next time."

"All right, I promise."

In the castle hall, there stood four Reavers and Anaxes, circling the Dream Orb in the center of the hall. Anaxes looked at his attendants. They looked at him in return.

"Is the thrall ready yet?" A Reaver asked.

"I have the plant, Ensis, so do not rush me," Anaxes said as he held out a strange, green flower.

"Torva Procurator, do you have the reagents?" Anaxes asked.

"Yes. I and Veneficus have collected the reagents. We are not lazy." The female Reaver named Torva said.

"Yes, but you are impertinent. Stop being quite so…defensive. And what of Probrum Rector? Has his station stopped him from attending the ritual?"

"He had business to take care of. He means no disrespect." Ensis said.

"I see. Well then we must make haste with the replica." Anaxes finished. Just then, the doors opened and Sonic rushed in.

"Sorry we had to crash your party," he said, "but you have something of ours."

"Correction: I have something that was never Mobius' in the first place. It is property of the Chaeons, which was given in good faith to the Reavers," Anaxes explained.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Knuckles demanded.

"Ironic that you know nothing of the artifacts that you have protected for a decade. I will not tell you, however, as you all will not survive long enough," Anaxes said. "You all cannot stop the creation of something so beautiful that you all can only pray to comprehend. For now, though, you will fare poorly against yourselves." He and the Reavers disappeared and glass figures started to form in the room. The figures were uncannily similar to Sonic and his friends. The figures attacked and Sonic spin dashed through them all, shattering them in the process.

"What a cheap gimmick," Rouge commented, "but those statues could've been worth something. A shame they attacked us."

Sonic paid no mind to Rouge's comment and touched the Dream Orb.

"It's much warmer than I thought it'd be." Sonic said.


	6. Chapter 5: Keeps of Eldritch Lore P1

Chapter 5: Keeps of Eldritch Lore Part One

**Disclaimer: Err…what?**

Sonic and his friends were breath taken as they left the castle with their orb. The city showed no sign of its former desecration and abyssal demise; the buildings were not shattered like glass, the streets were free of all snow and the skies were a beautiful azure color. Where once the struggle of life amidst a horrible nightmare was the ruling force, it is supplanted by peace and the former innocence of prosperity.

"Wow," Sonic said, "this place is beautiful."

"It's like the battle didn't happen," Amy remarked.

"Except for the people who've…" Knuckles trailed off.

"True," Tails said. "If only we had stopped Anaxes…"

"We should not regret what has happened. We need to find out where Anaxes has gone, and then head him off before he does anymore damage with his Reaver friends." Sonic said.

"Okay, but let's let the people trapped in the cathedral that it's safe to come out now." Tails said. They entered back into the cathedral.

To their surprise, they found the cathedral empty save for two people: a man and a woman. They both walked up to Sonic.

"You have saved us, and for that, you have our thanks." The woman said.

"Thank you," the man added.

"Errm, no problem…?" Sonic said.

"I am Annalese, Favored Soul of Chaos." The woman said.

"And I am Abraxis, also a Favored Soul." The man said.

Sonic grew wide-eyed and felt anger well in his chest. Abraxis? He thought he was gone! How could he still be here? It doesn't matter! Sonic would get rid of him! The nerve of that guy, showing his cowardly, malicious being here.

Sonic leapt in the air and slugged Abraxis. Sonic landed on his two feet while Abraxis stumbled and fell. Sonic leapt to continue the assault when he was hit over the head. He groaned and looked behind him. But before he could see who hit him he was forced to the ground. His friends were holding him down.

"What are you doing?" Sonic asked.

"Why are you attacking him?" Amy asked.

"He is Abraxis! He killed all of those innocent people!"

"What?" Abraxis asked.

"Stop pretending like you don't know. It's time to face my wrath for your crimes!"

"What crimes? I don't know what you're talking about!"

Sonic looked surprised. "You mean you really don't know?"

"Don't know what? What by Chaos' light are you talking about?" Abraxis asked.

"…"

"What?"

"…Never mind." Sonic said.

"No, seriously, tell me what I've done."

"Um, I was mistaken. Sorry." Sonic said. What an odd ordeal; it seemed that Abraxis didn't remember Sonic or any of his friends. Was he even the same person? He had a much different appearance now than he did in the past. In the past, he looked like some terrifying monster from legends that parents spin to make children do their chores and get to bed on time. But he didn't seem at all like his past; in fact he looked almost angelic, calm and peaceful, unlike the cold, calculating and insane individual they met in Station Square and who admitted to destroying an entire planet and race of individuals to get at Sonic. In other words, Sonic was less than happy to see his old foe.

The door to the cathedral opened. In the door way was a woman that looked half-plant and half-human. She had rose buds on her head that were in full bloom and boasted red petals that looked almost pink in a certain angle. Her hair-like leaves were golden yellow and reached from the top of her head to her hips in a combed, kept helm. Her eyes were blue, and she wore an elegant dress that complemented her hair color. She had a bag at her side that bore a red cross. Sonic recognized her. Her name was Daschniiya, perhaps the only survivor of Abraxis' horror. She walked in and saw Abraxis. He went to her and they hugged. To complicate things, they are lovers.

"What are you doing here?" Abraxis asked as he placed his hand on her cheek.

"I came here to find you. I missed you, and I wanted to warn you about something." Daschniiya proceeded to say.

"Is it about the dream invasion thing?" Sonic interjected. "Because that already happened and we saved the day!"

"It is good to see you too, Sonic." Daschniiya said.

"You know these people?" Annalese asked.

"Yes, I forgot to tell you about my adventure on Earth. It's a long story, but it has a quick resolution. We'll skip to the resolution and start at the part where we introduce ourselves." Daschniiya let go of Abraxis to introduce herself.

"My name is Dr. Daschniiya; last of the Seedrians, medical doctor, special agent for the Chaeons, and that's pretty much it."

"That's it?" Chemerl asked.

"Well, no one usually asks, so I don't really think about answering that question." She looks at Sonic. "So you stopped the attack, I take it?"

"Yep. Those Reavers were easy to take care of. But it's odd though…"

"Odd in what way?"

"You would have thought some of the destruction from the dream world thing would have lasted…"

"I noticed that as well," Abraxis said. "I do not think the casualties have changed. It seems more like they brought a bubble of their own power and realm here rather than cause actual destruction."

"But why do that?" Shadow asked. "It doesn't seem tactically wise; especially since someone can get into the bubble and then pop it from the inside."

"I think it may be the way they gain territory, and it can act as a repository of sorts and a link between their world and ours."

"So…does that mean the Reavers are not of our world?" Tails asked.

"Yes. And neither are the Dreamkin." Abraxis said. "But there is one thing of our world that aids them: Anaxes."

"You know him?" Vector asked.

"I don't know him personally. I only know of him."

"That's good. We are looking for him because he stole the Chaos emeralds."

"Then what I am about to say will be of interest to you." Daschniiya said.

"What?" Sonic asked.

"The way I learned of the impending attack on Silverquinn was that I came into direct contact with the "Nazoians" as they refer to themselves."

"What do you mean?" Abraxis asked.

"I haven't told you about this in my letters, but while you were gone on your trip, I was kidnapped in Valethir. One night as I was walking home from the clinic, I was beset upon by thugs. They wiped the street with me. I was semiconscious when they finally scraped me off the street. One of them tossed me over their shoulders and carried me off somewhere. They must have thought I was unconscious because they didn't bother to blindfold me. Through the blood in my eyes, I saw and memorized the landscape they took me across to get an understanding of where my captors were taking me. A few hours later, when the blood was wiped out of my eyes, I was in some sort of stronghold and someone came to question me. After my questioning, I escaped and over heard some people talking about an attack on Silverquinn."

"You are absolutely certain that they weren't joking?"

"No. They way they talked about it sounded like it was planned for months. I also caught a sentence from one of them. It sounded like: "Anaxes has the Chaos emeralds". That was all I could find out."

"Wait; hold on a minute," Rouge said, "why would they kidnap some random person off of a street?"

"Daschniiya is an agent sometimes used by some of the nobles in Valethir." Abraxis said. "She was recently contacted to do something on the human home world."

"That'd explain why she was on Earth earlier." Tails said.

"So if you know where the stronghold is, can you guide us there?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, I can. But I don't think that would be a good idea as we don't know if Anaxes is there."

"Chances are he is there. He said he had to do some ritual or other here, but we interrupted it. Having a stronghold somewhere is a good place for such things." Cream said. The others looked at her. "I KNOW STUFF, TOO!" She yelled.

"I do have to agree to her logic, but attacking a fortified fortress by ourselves isn't a plan."

"It is, because more likely than not, they lost a lot of their manpower in the assault. It should be relatively empty by now." Tails said.

"Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. In that case, everyone follow me. But first, Sonic, can I speak to you in private?"

"Uh, sure."

Daschniiya and Sonic walked into a closed cloister and closed the door behind them. Daschniiya sighed and looked at Sonic. "Listen," she began, "I saw your fight with Abraxis…both on Earth and here…"

"Yeah…?"

"Abraxis does not know of his future self's crimes against living beings. I want to keep it that way."

"Why? Don't you care about what that guy did to your kind? Your parents?"

"I do care, but I care about Abraxis. He is ignorant of his crimes, innocent to the evil that he has perpetrated in the future. If he finds out, he would be devastated. I know you might think that he deserves that, and that it might stop him from doing that in the future. We cannot deal in those terms. It is too much of a gamble, and we cannot deal with what has been. We need to deal with the now. Please promise me that you will not tell Abraxis what he did."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"No, but my instincts tell me that it is."

"Well, _my _instincts tell me to punish the guy who made Tails grieve at an early age."

"Your anger is justified, and he deserves the very measure of your wrath, but as I said, we cannot deal with what has been and what might have been."

"All right, if it's that important to you, I won't tell Abraxis what he did."

Daschniiya smiled. "Good. Now, don't we have some place to be?"

The stronghold Anaxes was apparently holed up in has always had a strange history. Many people refuse to travel along the road that leads to the Keep. People who do travel along the road just vanish, wagons and all. If one takes a trip down that road, it is the last trip that person will ever take. The fact that the Keep seemed to exhume an aura of unpleasantness and people constantly report fires and lights in the Keep doesn't help one justify the reconstruction of the Keep. It was also the site of many unmarked graves. Farmers often could not till the fields without discovering an old sword or two, and if the dead decided to walk, there would be an army in no time.

It would take someone of low mentality or high desperation to live in such a place deeply situated in blood and the occult. Anaxes and his fanatical followers seemed to fit the bill.

Anaxes and his four cohorts stood near a circle made of words written in an eldritch language that either everyone forgot or one completely esoteric. Stretching across the circle was a scepter drawn in chalk and glowing with a gem at the tip. Inside the circle was a living being that looked half-plant and half-human. It looked like a young girl and her eyes were shut yet she was standing still, with the only sign of life from her was her stomach rising and falling with each breath. Anaxes smiled.

"Excellent, Veneficus," Anaxes said, "built to specifications, I presume?"

"Yes, my liege," Veneficus said, "she is perfect for our ploy. Sonic and his friends shall fall, and when they do, they shan't ever get back on their feet."

"That is assuming the artificial mind we have implanted can act as her soul." Torva uttered.

"I assure you that our ploy shall work as it always had in the past." Veneficus said.

"But she has absolutely no fighting skills, whereas Sonic and his friends are excellent warriors. Even the two kids, Tails and Cream, have defeated Reavers with ease."

"We are correcting that." Ensis said. "See, I have let Veneficus and Anaxes sift through my memories and talents to supplant them in the thrall. Being the deity of swordsmanship that I am, she will have no problems cutting Sonic down with even a butter knife."

"You are also clearly the deity of humility," Torva said with a taunting smile. Ensis gave her a cold look. Undaunted, Torva continued, "and she was their friend. How will she turn on them?"

"Memories are so easily manipulated. After we implant her memories, she will hate them. Coupled with Probrum's drive and your tactile mind, she is the best blackguard in the service of Lord Nazo." Veneficus said.

"And if that is not enough, whatever forces she will need we shall grant her," Anaxes said, "as stopping Sonic is imperative to our plan. The others are chaff."

"How long will it take for her to be completed?" Torva asked.

"We will need a distraction. Without a doubt, Daschniiya is leading Sonic here." Anaxes said.

"Let me take care of them," Ensis said, "I am excellent with a blade, for it is just an extension of my body. They shall fall before me."

Torva scoffed. "In your weakened state? They shall rip through you. It is best if someone else takes care of them."

"Well, who do you think should deal with them? Veneficus is too busy meditating on our thrall, Anaxes must prepare for paradise, and Probrum cannot lend us his skill with the scythe."

"I shall test them." She walked off.

"Damn (bleep)," Ensis muttered, "thinks she can take on the universe just because she is a monk."

"Are you jealous, Ensis?" Anaxes asked.

"You are one of Nazo's favored few, Anaxes, Veneficus is an arch mage, Probrum is a powerful politician and Torva is a damned stick-eater. I am only a lowly fighter. I have reason to hold my head high, I think."

"Make of Torva's test what you will. I must aid Veneficus with the thrall."

"Very well, I shall just go into a corner and notch my blade a few times."

_To be continued…_


	7. Chapter 6: Keeps of Eldritch Lore P2

Chapter Six: Keeps of Eldritch Lore Part Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic. Seriously, I do not own him.**

"This is the place," Daschniiya said as she looked at the Keep that rested at an uneasy distance of 100 meters from their position.

"Are you sure?" Tails asked.

"I am sure. I had chills running up my spine when I was dragged her by those thugs; I have the same feeling as I look at this structure. Not many buildings fill me with this sense of foreboding as this Keep does."

"And that is more than the legends behind this place that my love speaks of," Abraxis said, "this Keep has a horrible history behind its rise and fall." He turned to Sonic. "Whether or not Anaxes has used the legends to stop exploration into the Keep for his own purposes, I do not know."

"Hm, interesting," Tails said absent-mindedly. "So what is the plan? A forward assault's not going to be safe."

"Well, I was thinking that we attack them during the time when they change guard shifts," Daschniiya said. "We can catch them unprepared, and I saw a few rough images of the courtyard. We can use a lot of the objects as cover, and with the right tactics, we can overcome the larger force."

"And then we beat up Anaxes, take names, become famous, and then swim in huge amounts of gold!" Chemerl said. "It follows a rather simple equation that the humans made up. It follows as: Plan→Attack→?→Profit. Which is odd, considering that the humans are noted for their lack of ability at mathematics in many alien cultures…"

"Getting back on topic here," Sonic interrupted, "I'm up for the plan."

"Alright, but we'll need to wait. Let's give them a little more time to sleep, right?"

Five minutes passed and the gates to the Keep opened. Two Reavers clad in scale mail, with swords belted at their hips. Their hands dangled too close to the scabbard and hilt for our heroes' comfort and safety. The guards standing at their posts turned toward the gate and started to make their way into the gate whilst fist-bumping each other as they passed.

"Now!" Said Daschniiya, "Let's go!"

They ran from their cover behind a rock and ran almost silently toward the gate, almost thinking that if they go a little further a little faster, they might be able to sneak in while the guards are changing positions.

And they did. The guards were too preoccupied to notice Sonic and the others slip in undetected. The only response was a guard noting the sudden rush of air. Sonic and his friends ran a good distance away from the gate, turned left afterward and hid behind another rock. They were now in the courtyard, which was filled with guards sitting on the ground and playing some card game or patrolling the grounds.

"Darn," Abraxis muttered, "the grounds are filled with guards."

"Never stopped me before," Sonic boasted.

"There are too many guards for us to take on; Sonic," Vector said, "and we still need our element of surprise if we want to capture Anaxes."

"Wait…where's Rouge? And Shadow?" Amy asked as she looked around.

"They must still be outside," Chemerl said. "Great. Now we have to fight the guards."

"Got a problem with fighting for your friends?" Vanilla asked.

"Jeez, stop trying to accuse me of doing such dastardly things, alright? I hate plans in general, but now that we have two people AWOL, we are going to have to fight!"

"You don't like fighting, Mr. Chemerl?" Cream asked.

"I…hate it. God, I wish…never mind." He turned to Daschniiya. "What'll we do now? We can't simply wait for another guard change."

"We have to," Daschniiya said solemnly.

"Then let's just head inside the Keep," Sonic said, "we need to stop Anaxes."

"That won't be necessary," a voice said behind their backs. The spun around to a world of pain. Sonic flew out from behind the rock and into the circle of Reavers playing their card game. He smashed against a couple of guards reaching in for the pot of chips. He looked up into the guards' beady eyes. He chuckled softly, and then jumped away from them.

Sonic got into a fighting stance as the guards bum rushed him. He socked one in the stomach, breaking through the scale mail. The guard collapsed wheezing. The guards looked at their fallen comrade stunned. They then peered at Sonic. The rushed him with drawn swords and axes with ten guards. The others focused their attention on Sonic's friends. Tails was easily fending off the guards along with Cream and Knuckles. Daschniiya and Abraxis were fighting back to back with the guards getting in hits and scratches with the felt tips of their blades, getting frustrated enough to yell "THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU FALL DOWN AND BLEED TO DEATH!" when winding their arms back to release a powerful strike. Sonic wasn't faring well in his brawl; the guards ganged up and flanked him, blades appearing from the back, front and side-ways. Sonic ducked to dodge an orchestrated strike toward his neck. When he ducked, he was forced to the ground by the boot of a guard. The guards ditched their weapons and started to pummel Sonic. He grew angry enough as he bled, gathering his strength and focusing the power out and around himself. He glowed and the guards shrieked as they fled from him.

Sonic had turned super. Oddly enough, he didn't have any Chaos emeralds with him. He dashed through the guards and defeated them in one fell swoop. He sighed as he laid eyes on the barren courtyard. He sighed and turned back to normal.

"Sonic," Tails began as he headed toward him, "how did you turn super? There weren't any Chaos emeralds around."

"I…don't know. I feel refreshed though, unlike turning super with the Chaos emeralds."

"I have a few speculations on how our friend turned super without the Chaos emeralds!" Chemerl said. "You see, a common manifestation of Chaos magic-"

"Chemerl!" Daschniiya said, "You can talk about your postulations after we secure the emeralds."

"Finally, someone shut him up," Vanilla said, "he's been talking through the battle- mumbling stuff about physics with swords or something."

"Actually, I was talking about sword techniques the Reavers were using and how they pertained to-"

"Be quiet! Yikes, you're worse than Emerl."

"Emerl?" Chemerl asked as his face paled. "He-he-he's not a-a-around is he…?"

"No. Why, did you lose your buddy?"

"Actually, he and I weren't buddies. We were…also never mind."

"Until you tell us things that actually make sense, you need to be quiet." Vanilla said with poison in her tone.

"Would you both stop fighting? We need to get back on track." Abraxis said.

"Let's just go through the front door," Sonic suggested, "we beat our way through the guards. Whatever's inside won't hold a candle to us."

"Agreed," Tails said.

They walked up to the main building. Sonic attempted to kick down the door. When his foot connected to the wood, he bounced off and hit his head against a wall. He ran back and tried the handle to the door. The door didn't even make a creaking sound. He exhaled sharply.

"They barricaded the door during the fight," he said.

"Then let's use power where strength has failed," Abraxis said. Sonic rolled his eyes.

Abraxis raised his arms and twisted them together in a circular motion. A fire grew in the circle and it amassed into a ball of immolation. It flew from his hands and at the door. It exploded on contact; wood splinters and metal shrapnel flying in the air in a deadly dance. The door was still standing. Abraxis tried the technique again. No luck.

"Wow, you're terrible," Sonic said.

"I'm not terrible!" Abraxis said as he tried the technique. "I think I am being countered!"

"Countered? What does that mean?"

"I'd have to explain it to you another time, but simply put, one can counter act any Chaos power, even the super and hyper forms."

"So someone's blocking us on the other side." Vector said.

"Yes, and if we can't get them to stop countering me, we aren't getting in!"

"So what now? We can't break it physically, and we can't break it with Chaos powers!" Knuckles said. Just then, the fireball broke apart the door, and the door was on the ground.

"Looks like whoever was countering us is gone." Annalese said.

"Or Abraxis finally got it right." Sonic suggested.

They entered the Keep and looked around. Nothing was there except discarded tables and a single chair. Many Reavers were unconscious on the ground and two people were standing: Shadow and Rouge.

"It's about time you all got here," Rouge said. "None of you are for subtlety, are you? I could hear the fight from all the way here."

"Let me guess," Amy said. "You all had a suspicion something like this was going to happen and you found a back door here."

"Yep. And we took care of the guys who were countering you." Shadow said.

"Way to think ahead." Daschniiya said.

"Don't worry, rookie, when you get to my level of expertise, these plans will come easily to you."

"I don't like being called 'rookie'."

"Well…how long have you worked for…?"

"About ten years."

"Damn. Less than a year."

Daschniiya smiled. "I'll still take your advice…rookie."

"Is this the part where we kick off some sort of rivalry?"

"Nah."

"Good. The basement is over there. He should be down there."

"They are here, Anaxes." Veneficus said.

"I know. Torva has volunteered to derail our guests. How is our thrall coming?"

"She is finished. Should I equip her with her sword and leave her to fight them?"

"Yes. I do not think they shall best Torva, but it's good to be careful, you understand. I shall take the emeralds with me to paradise. Remember, Veneficus, guard the Chaos Lexicon with your life. If you do this, you shall be saved where others shall tremble and be cast down before our Lord. That is the very words our Lord has spoken unto me. I shall take my leave of you all. Hail Nazo."

"Hail Nazo." Veneficus nodded. In a flash of light, Anaxes was whisked away somewhere. Veneficus growled. "I am a mage, not some librarian! I was not named master of the sixth tower by guarding some ancient tome written in Truespeak, a language no-one knows. That's a job for a thrall. Speaking of which…" He turned to the girl in the circle. He took out some chalk from his pocket and drew a line through the circle. He tethered a sword to the girl's hip. He teleported off without the Lexicon. The girl opened her eyes to reveal a fierce shade of blue.

Sonic and his friends arrived in a large room devoid of any furniture or decoration except torches hanging against the wall. The saw in the center was a woman who seemed to be meditating. Her legs were folded on top of each other, and she was entirely silent. She wore monk robes with a picture of a sun rising above crested waves. She was a Reaver.

"Hello?" Cream asked. "Excuse me miss?"

The Reaver stayed silent.

"HEY LADY!" Cream yelled.

"Cream!" Vanilla scolded.

"Sorry mama," Cream apologized, "sorry miss. We are looking for Mister Anaxes so we can take our Chaos emeralds back and leave. Could you please tell him that?"

The Reaver stayed silent.

"What is it with this person? Is she deaf?" Asked Sonic. He ran close to her. He spoke in her ear: "Hey lady! We are here to defeat Anaxes! Are you with him?"

She stayed silent.

"Gah!" Sonic yelled. "WHY ARE YOU SO INFURIATING?" He proceeded to try and kick her. Before he knew it, he was on the ground with his leg twisted and the Reaver was standing up.

She spoke: "He who does not control his anger is controlled by it." She turned to the others. "Greetings and well met." They were taken aback by her civilized approach.

"My name is Torva Procurator, monk of the Order of the Dreaming Eye. Or, I used to be, until I found new truth in Lord Nazo's scriptures."

"That's…odd. I had heard that monks of that order are particularly devoted to Selhanine." Chemerl said.

"I was…an initiate."

"Yet you don't carry yourself as an initiate."

"The grub carries himself as an ant despite not being grown-up."

"Are you making this stuff up?" Abraxis asked.

"No," she responded, "I was taught some things by the monks. And I am trusted by Anaxes to defeat you."

"So it's a fight, then," Vanilla said sadly.

"No," Torva said. "I have principles, despite what you think of me. I warn you: I am a master of unarmed combat; boxing, martial arts, you name it. That means that if there is a way to beat the tar out of you all with my bare hands, I know it. Do you wish to fight me?"

Sonic and his friends were stunned. "Wait," Sonic said, "you're actually giving us the choice whether or not to fight you?"

"Yes. I do not fight those who cannot fight back. If you say "no" then I believe you do not have the capacity to fight, and I will not fight you. But know this: the door behind you is locked, and the door behind me is Anaxes' chambers. I have the key. I will not choose this fight for you."

"Why?" Sonic asked.

"I cannot choose my own fights; only you can decide whether or not to fight me."

"Um…okay. We'll fight you." Sonic said.

"Prepare," Torva said. She moved backward so quickly none of them saw her move. She got into a fighting stance. Her arms were stretched to resemble that of a praying mantis. She looked down toward the floor.

Sonic charged at her. She dodged to the side and struck Sonic five times in the back. She then twisted Sonic around and threw him back to the group. Amy dodged Sonic and charged at Torva she swung her hammer but Torva caught the hammer's head between her hands. She then said "Boot to the head," and kicked Amy down to the ground. Wielding the hammer, Torva hit Amy over the head a few times and balanced on top of her. Knuckles charged and tried to punch Torva. She jumped and kicked Knuckles four times and still balanced on Amy. She then jumped off of Amy and threw her back toward the group. Sonic tried to rush her again, but he started to see doubles or triples of her. She then knocked him down and pinned him with one finger. When the others tried to rush her or pry her off of him, she kicked them back or ignored their attacks. It was impossible. She had to be made of steel to ignore all of them, yet she was agile and nimble. She jumped off of Sonic and landed near the door after a back-flip.

"Hah!" She boasted. "None of you know how to fight!" She dusted her robes. "Like I said, I do not fight those who cannot fight back." Suddenly, she fell to the ground unconscious. Tails had snuck up on her and hit her over the head with her staff.

"We so can fight back!" Amy said as she got her hammer back. Sonic got up and sighed. "Why am I always getting beaten up?"

"The enemies are tougher," Tails said. "They aren't like Eggman's goons. And they might even be more powerful than the Metarex."

"Yeah, I know, but a _monk_? Y'know, like those peaceful, live in monasteries people?"

"Monks in certain societies are different. Torva seems to be like a monk order based off of the human Shaolin monks, who practiced unarmed combat as a form of ritual after being schooled by retired soldiers who joined their ranks." Chemerl said.

"How do you know that?" Tails asked.

"I travel a lot."

"Wait a minute…" Cream said. "Tails…do you think Mr. Eggman is safe?"

"Why would you be worried about that?" Sonic interrupted.

"I'm worried that he might…"

"Don't worry; he's probably safe…or something." Tails said. "Anyway, now that we have the key, let's get ready to face Anaxes."

"This is going to be the shortest adventure ever." Sonic commented.

They entered in the door. And gasped at what they saw.

"Cosmo?" They all said surprised. The Seedrian girl walked toward them with her bangs hiding her eyes.

They all ran toward her. Tails was happy to see her. Cream was a bit terrified.

Tails spoke. "What are you doing here?" He asked excitedly.

"Not happy to see me?" Cosmo asked almost abrasively, "Let me know if I'm getting in the way- you know, of something that's more important."

"Huh?" Tails said as he started to grow a little disheartened. "I didn't mean that…"

Cosmo looked cold and spoke with poison dripping from her words, potent like acid and slimy like ooze. "Hmph," she said, "Spare the excuses. I bet that you all had forgotten about me."

"Are you crazy?" Tails protested, "C'mon. I came all the way here looking for you!"

Cream looked startled. "Tails…? What's going on…?" She whispered softly.

Ignoring her, Cosmo continued, "But you're not anymore, right? Now it's only _Cream_ you care about." Tails looked at Cosmo with a blank mind as she slated her accusations. "You don't care about me. Just like the rest of you never cared…_at all_ about me."

"What are you talking about?" Amy asked. "Cosmo! We were your friends. We housed you when you crashed on Mobius! We supported you!"

"Yeah!" Cream said. "We always loved to see you. Just like we enjoy seeing you now."

Ignoring Cream again, Cosmo then said, "Oh really? I knew it then. Never even gave it a thought, did you? Just because you want to see me –sorry- doesn't go both ways." She then pointed toward the group. "Tell you all the truth; I don't even want to look at your sorry faces."

Aghast, Tails responded, "Why not?"

Cosmo retracted her finger. She looked down toward her chest. "Why don't you remember…why I disappeared from this dimension?"

The group looked ponderously and awestruck. "Remember that, and you'd all know." Cosmo said.

Tails then asked, "Did we…Did I do something? Is it our or my fault?"

Cosmo stayed silent, her gaze filled with contempt. "Cosmo…" Tails said.

Suddenly, a black aura enveloped her feet, stretching to suffuse her own body. When the aura dissipated, her dress changed. It was dark and full of thorns, a sickening feeling oozing from the fibers of her dress. The flower petal skirt curled up and was tipped so sharp one could cut themselves on it. Her red orb on her chest turned purple. A sword was belted at her hip.

"Go home, Tails, and never come back," Cosmo said, "I never want to see you again, you pathetic worm!" She reached for the hilt of her blade. "If any of you come near me…" She pulled out the blade. It was jagged like an animal talon and decorated with thorned flowers. The blade was green and dripping with acid. "…they will die!" She finished. She raised her blade and charged at Tails. He caught the blade between his hands and struggled to keep it from slicing him in half.

Tails struggled to say, "What's-what's wrong with you? We're supposed to be friends!"

Cosmo just looked at him with a cold stare. "Please, Tails. Since when have you or anyone here ever cared about me? The Reavers aren't the only ones sick of looking at you. So am I!" Cosmo did a back flip across the room and landed gracefully on her feet.

Tails recovered. He looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Cosmo! Stop it!"

Cosmo only raised her blade in defiance. With one arm she taunted them to coming near her. Sonic walked across to her. "Cosmo," Sonic started, "we aren't fighting you."

"Then I'll make you fight!" She dashed across the room and smacked Sonic clean across the face with her fist. He fell to the floor and he stood up coughing. He wiped some blood from his mouth.

Cream walked across the room. "Cosmo," she pleaded, "we don't want to hurt you! I know that deep down; you don't want to hurt us either."

"Yes," Cosmo said, "I really do." She then used her blade to slice of Cream's dress. It fell to the floor and Cream cried.

Amy then took out her hammer. "Cosmo or not, I won't let you hurt my man or my best friend!" She then charged across the room and clashed with Cosmo. They both forced their weapons against the others and struggled to subdue the other. Cosmo then twisted her legs around Amy's and tripped Amy. She fell to the ground and balanced on top of her. Tails then walked toward her.

"Cosmo, I don't know what we've done, but believe me when I say we didn't do it."

"No. I don't believe you. Why? Because of what you did. Not only that, but you've been doing that same thing to Cream, that little (bleep)." Tails grew angry.

"She was your friends, patched you up when you crashed on our planet, gave you aid when you needed it, and you call her a (bleep)?" He then punched her off of Amy. She skid across the room and got back up. She then ran toward Tails and did the same to him. This time, Tails didn't get up. It hurt too much to stand. The others were sent the signal. She wasn't fooling around. They all rushed her and attacked en masse. Against a group, Cosmo was easily overrun and restrained. She struggled to break free, but she was pinned down. They all breathed heavily. When she regained her breath, Cosmo jumped out of the pin hold and ran away. Tails got up from his position on the ground. He tried to chase after her. Knuckles and Sonic restrained Tails.

"Cosmo!" Tails cried, "Please wait!" Cosmo kept running. Tails looked off in despair. They all went back into the room and tended to their wounds.

"How's Tails?" Cream asked as she wore a small shirt and a pair of pants in place of her orange dress.

"Not good," Abraxis said. "He is almost hysterical."

"Let me see him." She said.

"Why?"

"I'm his girlfriend! I need to help him get through whatever just happened. I also want some comfort too."

"What just happened anyway?" Shadow asked. "She could barely talk to anyone in a commanding voice, and now she's some crazy badass sword master that almost killed us. What happened?"

"I don't know, but Anaxes has disappeared." Sonic said. "Do you think she might be working for the Reavers? She said something about the Reavers being sick of us or something."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Amy said grimly, "I don't want to talk about what happened here."

"And now we don't know where this Anaxes is," Vanilla said.

"Come now, we might be able to think of something if we escape this doom and gloom…through song!" Chemerl said. He picked up his lute and started to play. "_If you stub your toe/and if it hurts you know…_" The others just looked at him. He noticed this too. "_Friends…are there…_Forget it, shove off, (bleep) off, I know."

"And now we don't have any indication of where he might be," Daschniiya said.

"You don't seem to be affected by the fact your leader's daughter tried to attack us." Sonic said.

"I really don't want to talk about our ex-leader. She was a fool." She said. "At any rate, we need to figure out what to do next."

"Maybe this might give us some clues," Annalese said as she flipped through a book. The cover said _The Chaos Lexicon_. Abraxis sternly said, "Annalese, stop reading that book! It's too dangerous, even to handle!"

"Maybe this is what Anaxes used to escape," she said.

"I think your right. But the problem is it's written in Truespeak, a language no-one knows."

"Truespeak?" Sonic asked.

"The language that wrote the universe, as it was known. Anyone who knows Truespeak is indeed almost godly, for it can rewrite the universe."

"Great. Dead girls from the past, ancient languages that no-one knows, this is getting interesting," Chemerl said to himself quietly.

"But it's useless if no-one knows how to read it right?" Annalese said. "Well someone knows how to speak Truespeak: I do."

"So that's what you learned for another language." Abraxis said. "What I thought would be useless is actually helpful."

"Yep. I could probably translate it all," She boasted. "First, let's get to some place safe. Then I'll see what I can do." They all got up and started to leave.

"Tails?" Cream asked as she walked with him.

"Yes?" He answered.

"What does this mean?"

"I don't know. I simply don't know. Why did Cosmo say all of those things and attack us? I don't know. But if you're asking about us, and I don't blame you, I want you to know I still love you, Cream."

"Okay," Cream said softly. She knew Tails was now torn personality wise. She then said, "If you need anything, I am right here, alright? I love you too." She walked with them quietly. She needed some way to cheer Tails up. She then turned to Chemerl.

"Mr. Chemerl?"

"Yes, Cream?"

"When we get to rest, will you teach me some songs?"

"Sure! We can start now if you want. See, songs can start with something simple, such as that cloud, or that shoe or that root or that boot…"

And they started the long trek to Valethir.

**A/N: Everything will be explained…in due time, of course. For now, don't read too deeply into what just happed. If you do, you'll probably be offended. And sorry for this huge chapter. **


End file.
